Yvon and Janet Van Driessche
It all started when…
Le Barn Appetit french restaurant was opened in 1987 by Yvon and Janet Van Driessche and their family. The name is a play on the french phrase, “Bon appetit!” and was chosen by the town of Seward in a business naming competition! It has evolved from its original form into a creperie and Inn, still run by Yvon and Janet!
Yvon our chef and entertainer originally from Belgium, immigrated to Alaska in 1966, and is fluent in French. Previously, Yvon was a commercial diver with diving experiences world-wide, was a boat captain of a 100-ton vessel. He has many stories of his adventures!
Janet was close to achieving her Master's degree in Speech Pathology. However, she moved from New Mexico to Dillingham, Alaska in 1972 to be a special education teacher for a year before returning to complete her Masters, or so she thought. She taught school in Anchorage for another 1 1/2 years. In 1975, she met Yvon, they married, and moved to Seward. She never did move back home to New Mexico!
Janet created both the Seward Tsunami Swim Club (STSC) and the Seward High School Swim/Dive team in 1977. She took a 20 year break from teaching school and became Yvon's diving tender for their business "Black Dolphin Divers", and co-owner of their business "Alaska Pacific Seafoods". During that period, Janet became a certified scuba diver, raised three+ children, and in 1987 was the co-creator of this Inn & Creperie. She went back to teaching at the Seward Middle School in 1998. She retired as a swim coach in 2011, and retired from teaching school in 2012.